2 injured in yet another Austin area bombing

HMN-Two victims with non life threatening injuries have been hospitalized after yet another bombing in the Austin area on Sunday. (KXAN)

AUSTIN (KXAN) – People living in the “Travis Country” neighborhood in southwest Austin are being told to remain inside their homes after two men were rushed to the hospital Sunday evening after an explosion on Dawn Song Drive.

Austin-Travis County EMS says it originally responded to 4721 Eagle Feather Dr. – in a neighborhood off of Southwest Parkway and west of South MoPac Expressway – just after 8:30 p.m.

However, when they arrived, ATCEMS and Austin police said the only incident was actually in the 4800 block of Dawn Song Drive, which is one block over. Two men in their 20s were taken to the hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

A St. David’s South Austin Medical Center spokesperson said the men are in good condition.

The Austin Police Department is asking homeowners within a half-mile radius of the intersection of Dawn Song Drive at Republic of Texas Boulevard to stay inside their homes and follow officers’ instructions. Republic of Texas Boulevard is blocked between Missions Oaks and Travis Country Boulevard.

The explosion Sunday evening is the fourth such incident since March 2, when 39-year-old Anthony Stephan House was killed by a package bomb. A second and third bombing during the morning hours of March 12 ended in two people being killed and another two injured.

The first bombing incident was in northeast Austin, the second in east Austin and the third in southeast Austin. The explosion Sunday night has not been officially linked to the first three incidents.

During a briefing at 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Police Chief Brian Manley said police are asking people to stay indoors because they’re still trying to go through the scene and make sure everything is safe in the area.

“Stay inside your homes until we have a chance to deem this neighborhood safe and that will not be at a minimum until daylight given the darkness and size of the area,” says Manley.

Due to the darkness, Manley says crews haven’t been able to get a really good look at the blast site to determine what happened.

“But it is obvious it was an explosion and it’s obvious it has caused significant injuries to two people. And it is important right now that anyone in the neighborhood behind us to give us time to work through this.”

Crews are currently working to clear a backpack that was found in the area. Manley says the community should expect another update in the morning.

Stan Malachowski was inside his home when he heard the noise, but didn’t think anything of it initially.

“It was loud enough to hear inside of our house with our windows and door shut. Again, airplanes go by and cars backfire so we didn’t think much of it,” says Malachowski

Malachowski and his family were out of town last week for spring break, but they had been following the bombing news.

“It’s not just an east Austin thing, or north Austin thing, it’s now southwest Austin. This is not good,” says Malachowski.

On Sunday afternoon, the Austin Police Department held a news conference pleading for the person responsible for the recent bombings to come forward before anyone else gets injured or killed.

“We want to understand what brought you to this point and we want to listen to you,” said Chief Manley.

During the news conference, authorities also increased the reward amount to $115,000 for any information leading to the arrest of the suspect or suspects.